Abbott introduces liquid dosing device, LiDoCon in India

Our Bureau, Mumbai
Friday, November 10, 2017, 16:30 Hrs [IST]

Abbott has introduced a first of its kind device for liquid medicines in India that provides accurate, hygienic and convenient dosing. The device-- LiDoCon, short for Liquid Dosing Concept was pioneered by Abbott in the country.

It was conceptualized at Abbott’s Innovation and Development Center in Mumbai. This novel technology currently is being used for a cough syrup, but in time, will be extended to different types of liquid formulations.

Anyone who has taken a liquid medication before knows that it can be messy, sticky and hard to know if you’re getting the right amount. To help solve this challenge, Abbott has come up with LiDoCon.

"Our goal is to help people get and stay healthy. If you’re taking medicine to get better, you have to know you’re getting the right amount," said Raviraj Pillai, head of Abbott’s pharmaceutical Innovation and Development Center in Mumbai. "Our new LiDoCon dosing device is simple, compact and helps avoid spillage and product contamination. This provides safer, more accurate and convenient dosing of liquid medicines, ultimately making it easier for people to take their medicine and get better."

The special LiDoCon cap is locked on to the neck of the bottle. By a simple four-step process of "Fill, Invert, Lock and Revert," a specific amount of liquid is dispensed, ensuring that there is no backflow. A premeasured quantity is dispensed from the bottle, which means that no washing is required. This greatly reduces risk of contamination and reduces overall preparation time.

The insights behind LiDoCon originally came from an Abbott employee in Mumbai, whose son suffers from asthma. His family experienced the herculean task of constantly cleaning and keeping track of the various dispensing caps from his son’s multiple syrups. That is when he approached Abbott’s innovation team for a solution. LiDoCon was born of a practical need felt by a parent so that monitoring of dosage and hygiene could be made easy.

Physicians across the country have shown a positive response to this new dosing technique.

Dr R. H. Merchant MD Paediatrics, from Bandra in Mumbai says, “LiDoCon technology solves the over dosing problem. It also takes care of hygiene issues, which is a big problem in India.”

Mohammad Athar Ansari, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna said, "LiDoCon is the best dosing concept I have seen for children. It is safe and hygienic to use, which is very important, especially from a child’s perspective."

The importance of this statement is validated by a study in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, published in May 2017. The study describes the safety profile and risk factors associated with cough and cold medications from the largest pediatric safety surveillance study on these products. The study states that medication errors by parents accounted for 13 per cent of exposures to adverse events, while 67.1 per cent exposures were due to accidental unsupervised ingestion by children.

LiDoCon ensures that only a measured amount is dispensed, and hence prevents overdosing and accidental ingestion of a large amount of liquid.

"At Abbott, we constantly strive to make technology user friendly, while maintaining safety and efficacy at all times," Raviraj said.